The invention relates to a coupling member for installation in a torque-transmitting drive connection with connecting parts for fastening to the driving and driven sides of the drive connection and an annular body for torque transmission which is inserted between ring disks of the connecting parts and is made of an elastomer.
Such coupling members are known from U.S. Pat. No. 1,790,516 or DE 310 9388 A for example and substantially consist of one or several rubber-elastic annular bodies which are molded onto the annular disks of metallic connecting parts, so that the coupling member can be fastened by way of the connecting parts to the driving and driven sides of the drive connection and the annular body thus ensures a torsionally elastic transmission of torque. As a result of the elasticity properties of the annular body there is an additional damping effect and a displacement capability which remain within rather narrow limits. Moreover, such coupling members can hardly be adapted to the different conditions of the drive connection. Finally, the shaping and the working of the metallic connecting parts and the production of the required connection between rubber and metal leads to respective production efforts.
According to AT 395 901 B there are already coupling members made of fiber-reinforced plastic which are used as connecting elements between the two halves of a shaft coupling or are used directly as a shaft element in a driving strand and lead to a perfect transmission of torque. Moreover, due to the flexibility of their membrane-like flange parts, they allow the compensation of an axial displacement and, in the presence of flange parts on either side, even the compensation of radial displacement of the drive parts to be mutually coupled. However, it is necessary to substantially make do without torsional elasticity and a damping effect in the transmission of torque.
The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a coupling member of the aforementioned kind which ensures a torsionally elastic and oscillation-damping transmission of torque and is additionally characterized by its adaptation and displacement capabilities.
This object is achieved by the invention in such a way that the connecting parts are made of fibrous composite plastic and the elastomeric annular body is molded onto the ring disks of the connecting parts. As a result of the combination of the fibrous composite plastic on the connecting side with an elastomer on the torque transmission side, the possibility is provided in a simple and elegant way to optimally utilize the properties of said materials and to produce a coupling member which can be adapted over wide areas to the most diverse conditions and requirements of a drive connection. Depending on the choice of the available volume of the elastomeric the annular body, and depending on the arrangement and disposal of the annular body between receiving ring disks of the connecting parts formed by membranes, it is possible to obtain a virtually torsionally rigid or a particularly torsionally soft coupling member which can be displaced in addition angularly, axially as well as radially and acts in a manner so as to insulate the structure-borne noise and to dampen the torsional oscillation.
In order to adapt the coupling member with respect to its elasticity, damping and displacement properties as well as with respect to the required installation possibilities, there is a whole range of various constructional variants. As a result of the respective distance of the ring disks which receive the annular body between themselves, the effective volume of the elastomeric annular body can be predetermined. Various embodiments of the invention are obtained in such a way that the one connecting part comprises a ring disk and the other connecting part comprises two ring disks, with the mutually engaging ring disks receiving the annular body between themselves, that the one connecting part forms a hub sleeve with an outwardly projecting ring disk and the other connecting part forms an outer fastening flange with an inwardly projecting ring disk, that the one connecting part comprises an inner fastening flange with an outwardly projecting ring disk and the other connecting part comprises an outer fastening flange with an inwardly projecting ring disk, that the one connecting part is formed as a connecting part for two other connecting parts, which connecting part is provided with a pipe section with at least one outwardly projecting ring disk at either end, that the one connecting part forms a pipe section which at the one end converges into at least one outwardly projecting ring disk and at the other end into a fastening flange, and that the one connecting part is provided with two inner fastening flanges with outwardly projecting ring disks, which fastening flanges are mutually connected by means of spacer sleeves.
In order to take into account the force and movement conditions which change with the radius, the ring disks of at least the one connecting parts can extend along a conical surface which is coaxial to the coupling member axis, so that the cross section of the annular body increases with increasing radius.
Furthermore, the ring disks of the connecting parts can form a shaft in the axial section and/or comprise a wall thickness tapering towards the free edge, thus allowing the flexibility of the membranes obtained by the ring disks to be influenced.
In order to increase the axial displacement capability it is also possible to provide the ring disks of the connecting parts with radial slots.
If the annular body and/or the connecting parts are subdivided into segments, a simplification of the coupling member assembly is usually obtained which can then also be performed radially by way of a connecting hub.